An integral part of an aircraft fuselage is the door assembly through which passengers and crew enter and exit the aircraft. The door assemblies of modern aircraft include latch mechanisms that lock the door in place when it is closed and unlock the door when it is opened. The actual opening and closing of the door assemblies are controlled by handle assemblies that actuate the latch mechanisms. Most of the handle assemblies are provided with interior and exterior handles so that the door assemblies in which they are installed may be opened or closed from either inside or outside the aircraft by their respective handles. Typically the exterior handle, or outside handle, is normally stored within an exterior housing which is mounted within the aircraft door such that the exterior handle is flush with the outer skin of the aircraft so as not to degrade the aerodynamic efficiency of the fuselage. Regardless of the large pressure differentials that may develop between the inside of the aircraft, which is usually pressurized, and the outside low ambient pressure at high altitudes, the handle assembly must keep the exterior handle locked in place so that it does not "pop out" in flight. Inadvertent extension of the exterior handle can disrupt airflow around the aircraft and degrade aerodynamic performance. Furthermore, extension of the exterior handle could lead to its movement so as to cause self-actuation of the handle assembly and the associated latch mechanism.
Various types of handle assemblies which actuate differing types of latch mechanisms have been developed for securing aircraft doors to an aircraft. For example, one type of handle assembly which actuates a door latch mechanism for securing an aircraft door to an aircraft utilizes an exterior handle that is independent of the interior handle. In order to allow passengers to disembark the aircraft, the aircraft door may be opened from the interior of the aircraft by cycling the interior handle to open the door latch; however, because the exterior handle is independent of the interior handle, the exterior handle remains in the stowed position. In the stowed position the exterior handle is generally retained within a recess of the aircraft door or a housing such that it is flush with the outer skin of the aircraft and usually signifies to the assisting ground crew that the door latch is properly closed.
A disadvantage of this handle assembly is that after the passengers have again boarded the aircraft and the aircraft door is subsequently closed by use of the interior handle, it is virtually impossible for the assisting ground crew to visually verify whether or not the interior handle has been cycled closed and that the door latch is in fact properly closed. This is because the exterior handle has remained in the stowed position during the cycling of the door latch mechanism from the closed, open, and back to closed state because of the independence of the exterior handle from the interior handle. Therefore, when the aircraft is preparing for flight, the assisting ground crew cannot visually verify that the door latch is in fact closed and cannot be assured that a potentially unsafe flight condition may not occur due to the aircraft door not being properly closed upon the subsequent flight of the aircraft.
Another type of handle assembly includes an exterior handle that is spring loaded such that the exterior handle is driven out of the recess in the exterior housing as soon as an operator begins to rotate the interior handle towards the open position. A disadvantage of this type of handle assembly is that in order to actuate the latch mechanism and close the aircraft door from the inside of the aircraft two separate steps are required. First, the operator must rotate the interior handle to the closed position. Second, the operator must stow the exterior handle. The exterior handle is stowed, i.e. retracted back within the recess of the exterior housing, by some form of secondary device such as a pull knob.
A further disadvantage of this type of handle assembly is that the presence of a pull knob or some other secondary device may possibly cause confusion to passengers in the emergency operation of the aircraft door. The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) regulations related to the emergency exit of aircraft, at Section 25.809(c) of Chapter I of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, states that "the means of opening emergency exits must be simple and obvious and may not require exceptional effort . . . " 14 CFR .sctn.25.809(c). The presence of a secondary device on an aircraft door which serves as a passenger emergency exit could possibly make the opening of the aircraft door in an emergency situation appear complex to passengers and may possibly cause confusion as to how to open the door. Therefore, this type of handle assembly may not be in compliance with FAA regulation 14 CFR .sctn.25.809(c).
In view of the above, it should be appreciated that there is a need for a handle assembly that actuates a latch mechanism for the opening and closing of an aircraft door that provides the advantages of having an exterior handle that is not independent from the interior handle, requires the operator of the interior handle to perform only one step to properly close the aircraft door, and does not require any secondary devices, such as a pull knob, to stow the exterior handle and properly close the aircraft door. The present invention satisfies theses and other needs and provides further related advantages.